Coal trains and tipple. (US Department of Energy, Annual Energy Review, 1999)
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Coal trains and tipple. (US Department of Energy, Annual Energy Review, 1999) |
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U.S. Energy Administration's Short Term Energy Outlook - The May 2004 EIA's energy Outlook includes projections for coal. Figure 12 graphs U.S. Coal demand, expected to fall summer 2004, but recovering for 2005. Figure 13 projects 1.9% and 3.4% demand growth for 2004 & 2005 respectively.
U.S. Energy Administration's Financial News - The U.S. major energy companies reported $13.9 billion of net income in the first quarter of 2004, an 18 percent increase over the first quarter 2003.
MCC Action alert: Climate Change and Mountaintop Mining Bills - August 22, 2002. "After Labor Day, Congress will return from their August recess for the final push of the legislative year. As stewards of God’s creation, your voice is needed now in support of legislation to address climate change and the effects of mountaintop removal mining." (Click your browser's BACK button when done to return here.)
August 2002 - Flooding seems to be an increasing problem in eastern Kentucky. New York Times reporter Francis X. Clines reports on the situation in McRoberts, KY.
May 2002 - A US District court in Virginia ruled this month that dumping mining waste into rivers and streams violates the Clean Water Act. The ruling effectively halts any further dumping permits for "valley fills" being issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. Citing evidence that dumping contributed to recent mass flooding damage to homes and property, and that the 5,858 valley fills permitted from 1985 to 1999 have had a severe negative environmental impact, covering over 500 miles of streams. The court's ruling also strikes down the Bush administration's new mining rules, issued May 3, as "contrary to the spirit and the letter of the Clean Water Act." See articles below.
OHVEC: Looking at the connections between government and the coal industry - OVEC Action Alert, Oct 30, 02. Bush...has strong ties to the coal industry, and is offering paybacks to mountaintop removal operators in terms of gutting the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, as well as putting mining lobbyists in key regulatory positions. See Bush and Rumsfeld in WV with WV Coal Association President Bill Raney (also a Colonel in the National Guard) and Gov. Wise. Learn a little about the Coal industry money flowing into the Whitehouse. Griles-National Mining Association lobbyists 2nd in command at Dept. of Interior.
"BP head warns US not to seize control of Iraqi oil" - Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 30, 02. "Comments from the most senior European oil executive will be seen as further proof that President Bush has already made his mind up about an early attack. They also serve to underline concern that the US is primarily concerned with seizing control of Saddam Hussein's oil and handing it over to companies such as ExxonMobil rather than destroying his weapons of mass destruction." What does oil supply have to do coal? Controlling energy sources and prices.
"US
scientists say fossil fuel alternatives lacking" - Planet Ark, Nov
4, 02. "U.S. scientists called for a major investment into research and
development of alternative energy sources, saying no current technology provides
an adequate replacement for the the fossil fuels that contribute to global warming."
"Top
miners pledge steps to sustainable development" - Reuters, May 16,
02. "A high-profile mining conference on sustainable development ended
yesterday with pledges that the industry is in the process of mending its social
and environmental ways, but with no concrete action plan on how the trick is
to be performed."
"Activists
say US task force favors mining industry" - PlanetArk, Oct 15, 02.
"A coalition of nearly 50 environmental interest groups said yesterday
a Department of Interior task force may be giving mining, oil and gas companies
an edge in discussions over toxic chemical cleanup costs."
"Miner
statue Dragline Plaque Inappropriate" - Charleston Gazette Online,
Oct 15, 02. "A statehouse statue that is supposed to honor coal miners
instead appears to honor the mechanization that cost 110,000 miners their jobs."
See also www.ohvec.org/action_alerts/alerts/2002_10_16.html.
"Is there a a coal slurry impoundment near you?" - "OVEC intern Bobby Nutter, under the guidance of Rick Eades and Josh Beck, produced a series of mountaintop removal maps for OVEC. Much of the data used to produce the maps came from the WV Department of Environmental Protection. If every picture tells a story, then these maps, first of their kind produced by a WV environmental group, are an encyclopedia!" MCC notes: Adobe reader required. The 1st link (mining permits) includes an awesome picture, and lists Mountaintop Mining Controversies; the 3rd link shows one of the largest slurry ponds in WV which stores roughly equal to 1,000 gals of waste for every adult and child in the state. These areas, starting with Mingo County, are beside Pike and Floyd Counties, eastern KY, where MCC Appalachia has been involved in flood relief work. MDS has worked in West Virginia. Eastern KY mining conditions are similar.
"OHVEC calls for action on National Energy Policy" - Sept 30, 02. "As you know, the House and Senate passed different versions of a national energy bill, both of them woefully short sighted in terms of leading the country away from our deadly dependence on fossil fuels. House and Senate conferees are now attempting to hammer out the differences between the two bills."
"Now: The Cost of Coal" - PBS, Aug 02, 02. "Coal is our largest supply of fossil fuel and it feeds the economy. But coal exacts a filthy price for the energy we get from it. Burning coal to generate electricity produces fine particles that are a big public-health problem. And just getting the coal in the first place can be costly, too - a threat not only to workers below the ground but to the environment above it. Now's Brenda Breslauer has [the] first report." (02/10)
"Death Toll Rises but Money in Mine Fund Goes Unspent" - NYT**, Sept. 26, 2002. "A tax collected to pay for dangerous sites near coal mines is not being spent by the federal government to help offset the budget deficit."
World premier screenings at Flooded Out Film Festival - OHVEC, Sept 9, 2002. "Many coalfield residents who lived through the deluges of July 2001 and May this year believe both unregulated timbering and the controversial coal mining practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) made flooding far worse than it would have been. Those floods, including the July valley fill disaster at a Massey Energy mine near Lyburn in Logan County, are examined in "Flood Stories," a short film by Charleston filmmaker Robert Gates. Gates' film premiers as it opens the Flooded Out Film Festival at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10 at the West Virginia State College Capitol Center Theatre. All proceeds go to flood victims."
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Web site - Read history and activities surrounding mountain top removal. See pictures of MTR methods and effects.
"Flooding in Appalachia Stirs Outrage Over a Mining Method" - New York Times, August 12, 2002. '"The company and government inspectors tell us the rain's an act of God," said Betty Banks, who lives here. "Well it wasn't God who went up on our mountain with a 'dozer to leave it naked. They are destroying us here." Ms. Banks said her property had not flooded in 40 years before decapitation of the mountain.'
"Interior
secretary tells coal ‘we must win’ mining fight"
- Charleston Gazette, August 3, 2002. "Interior Secretary Gale
Norton told an audience of coal industry officials that the public
must be convinced that mountaintop removal is acceptable. During
a speech to the West Virginia Coal Association, Norton noted the
ongoing federal government appeal of a court decision to limit mountaintop
removal."
"The
Cost of Coal: Facts and Folklore" - PBS "NOW"
with Bill Moyer, Aug 02, 2002. "As much as coal seems the stuff
of the past it is the fuel of the present, and future. Coal production
in the United States is up, and prices are down. Projections by
International Energy Agency show coal's share of energy production
growing. And, last month THE ECONOMIST labeled coal "Environmental
Enemy No. 1." What role does coal play in the U.S. and the
world — check out some of the facts."
"Massey
Valley Fill Disaster" - Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition,
July 19, 2002. "Imagine sleeping restlessly, if at all, any
night it rains, wondering if you are about to lose your possessions
and even your life. On July 19, an early morning thunderstorm (3
to 3 1/2 inches during a three-hour period) brought disaster to
the little community of Winding Shoals Hollow at Lyburn in Logan
Co., WV.
"Judge Holds Fast to Ban on Mining Permits" - Environment News Service, June 18, 2002. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may not issue permits allowing rock and dirt from mountaintop removal coal mines to be disposed of in streams, a federal judge confirmed Monday." Pictures and background.
"Martin County Sludge Pond: Only the most recent exposé of the real disaster" - KFTC, 2001. "By far, the greatest burden of the disaster that is coal mining is borne by coalfield residents in the way of blasted and flooded homes, damaged water, destroyed mountains and ecosystems, poorer health and clogged lungs, broken up roads and for some, a broken spirit. The most appropriate response is to change the political environment that makes Martin County coal sludge disasters possible in countless different ways."
Senate Subcommittee Hearings - a Senate subcommittee held a hearing last week on this change to the definition of "fill". Earlier this year, MCC Washington wrote a letter to EPA against the loosening of restrictions in the proposed definition. (See "MCC Washington Guide to the Environment" pdf document for background for MCC's environmental justice work.) Rachelle Schlabach (MCC Washington) reports that "the hearing was packed, which seemed to be partly because there were a number of concerned citizens who came from WV, and partly because one of the Backstreet Boys, who is from KY, was testifying!"
"Backstreet Boy Spotlights Mountain Massacre" - OHEC Enotes, June 2002. Musician Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys agreed to appear at a press conference with Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert Kennedy Jr. following the hearings on June 6 on the legality of valley fills. In 2000 Richardson, a native of Estill County, Ky., formed the Just Within Reach Foundation to aid environmental causes in Appalachia. Flyovers of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia coalfields have further committed him to the cause. On his most recent flyover with Kennedy following the christening of the Kentucky Riverkeeper office, the Big Sandy River just happened to be running black (again) from a coal waste impoundment failure in Gary, WV. The press mobbed Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson after his testimony. From Alaska to Australia, news of mountaintop removal went around the world on June 7.
KFTC's lawsuit against the Corps of Engineers - Kentuckians Fed Up, Say No More Illegal Valley Fills. Federal lawsuit challenges validity of Corps’ permit to Martin County Coal.
"Saving Mountain Streams" - Washington Post, May 28, 2002. At least for the moment, the Army Corps of Engineers won't be issuing any new permits allowing coal companies to bury Appalachian streams under tons of rubble from mountaintop mining operations.
"'Big Coal' Swayed Bush" - Washington Post, May 23, 2002. A member of a government advisory committee on coal charged last year that President Bush's decision to reverse himself on a campaign pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions was a "monumental mistake" that resulted from vigorous coal industry pressure, newly disclosed documents show.
"Toxin Report Cites Rock Mining, Coal" - Washington Post, May 24, 2002. America's largest toxic polluters during 2000 were hard-rock mining companies and coal-burning power plants, responsible for nearly two-thirds of the chemicals that industry says were released into the nation's air and water.
"Coal's Crimes" - Louisville Courier-Journal, May 10 2002. Editorial.
"Ruling
on Dumping of Mine Waste Stuns Coal Industry" - Washington
Post, May 10, 2002. The coal industry was reeling yesterday from
a federal court ruling that would end a long-standing practice of
filling rivers and streams with waste rock and dirt from mountaintop
mining operations.
"Mountaintop Mining Halted" - USA Today, May 9, 2002. A federal judge halted Wednesday the controversial mining practice of mountaintop removal. The method had allowed companies to hack off the tops of mountains in West Virginia and other Appalachian states to reach coal seams.
Kentucky Coal Council's Coal Education Web Site - Learn about the coal industry's perspective of it's activities and contributions to American society. "In an effort to educate the public, the contents of this page are directed to students, teachers, employees of the coal industry, and the general public to expand their knowledge of coal and the coal industry. The Coal Education Web Site is a dynamic, growing portrait of one of America's most essential industries. Its purpose is to present factual, useful information about coal in a fun and productive way."
"Happy Earth Day From George W. Bush. Will He Gut The Clean Water Act?" - TomPaine.com, April 16, 2002. "'Mountaintop removal.'The name says it all about this most-destructive method of mining Appalachian coal."
"Just Make It Legal: From 'Waste' To 'Fill'" - TomPaine.com, April 15, 2002. "It's like stopping bank robbers from breaking the law by making bank robbery legal. Changing the definition of one word in the Clean Water Act makes all the difference to this country's waterways."
"Obliteration Blues: Activists Speak Out" - Reprinted from Washington Post, April 15, 2002. The ancient mountains and pristine streams of Appalachia are being destroyed by a form of coal mining known as "mountaintop removal." The name all too literally describes this devastating practice in which mining companies blow off hundreds of feet from the tops of mountains to reach the thin seams of coal beneath, creating hundreds of millions of tons of waste that is then dumped into nearby valleys and streams.
